To Death
by rachael54321
Summary: Aeolyn is the daughter of King Théoden of Rohan, and should have died in a fight to reclaim the city of Osgiliath in Gondor. However, when fate decides that she may live, she attends the council of Elrond and joins the Fellowship. Fair warning - This will probably follow the plot of the movie closer than the book and may go a little off plot anyway. Please review!
1. Prologue

Her breath was quiet and jagged as she watched from above as those she had spent her life with died. Her deep blue dress flew behind her for a good few paces, and she stood strong, clutching a bow that she was now too terrified to use. She watched as they fell from many feet below her. The other women who had decided to be a part of this impossible fight were up there with her, many wielding weapons that they held no skill in.

Aeolyn liked close weaponry. Swords, daggers, even poison. A bow was too flimsy, breakable and fragile, just like she felt. She had a sword hidden down her back to pull out and use if somehow anyone got up here. Before it had just been an act of rebellion because she hated being treated as though if it came to it she could not fight, but now it seemed like a good choice. Their warriors were clearly the weaker force. She quickly began to pull out arrows and shoot them hopelessly into the crowd of enemies, infrequently hitting them. Soon, she began to see that they were making their way towards the Iron Gate which kept them out. Soon, she would have to fight.

"If you are not wearing armour, retreat immediately! If you lack a sword, run to the armoury and find one, before they get inside. If you have skill with a bow, stay and hold them off!" Aeolyn found herself shouting at them. The women, which far outnumbered the men left on the battle field, needed no further instruction, and soon, Aeolyn was faced with the charge of a few lines of archers up on the battlements, and a new many lines of women who could wield swords ready and poised to attack any who tried.

The women, she realised suddenly, were far more desperate to prove themselves than the others were. They were soldiers already. For them, a battle lost meant the glory of dying a hero. Aeolyn realised that for the women it would mean a future fighting, or a future at home.

She looked ahead, placed as one of the closest to the door from the stairs to the battlements, and felt a strong hand clasping her own. For a moment she wondered if somehow it might be him, the one person she wanted to desperately to see, and looked only to remember that he had been fighting too, and therefore he was as good as dead. The person next to her was Órelind, an old friend.

"We will fight to the death, together." Órelind said with a reassuring squeeze of her hand. Aeolyn smiled weakly, and slid the sword from the sheaths on her back with her right hand, and stood with it held so as to kill the first thing which came near her.

"The gate is breached." Aeolyn did not know who spoke, and it did not matter. This was their moment to fight. They heard the men from below shouting for them to wait, but those who looked over the walls would see the evil forces manning the gates so as they could not enter. Aeolyn felt a strong sense of duty. She was a princess of her race. She would defend the city until her heart stopped beating and her body grew cold lying on the great stone slabs upon which she stood.

Suddenly, there was a great and overwhelming silence which she might have called deafening if she had been speaking. Her long blonde hair flew behind her with the dress, and her grey eyes lay fixed on the door through which she knew they would come charging very soon.

Aeolyn, the daughter of Théoden, king of Rohan should have been at home, but for now she was in Gondor, fighting off enemy soldiers. Her father would have been more upset than she would have known had he realised where she was. As they came charging through, she eyes filled with tears, as she held the image of the man she was betrothed to in her head and whispered his name under her breath.

She was supposed to die that day.

If she had died, as she was supposed to, Aeolyn would have heard a voice as she passed on, her friend Órelind, and entered the next world with the comfortable knowledge that the man she would have married was alive. She would have whispered for them not to mourn her.

However, sometimes the fates have a different idea for those whose futures seem to have been planned out, and they certainly did for Aeolyn.

He arrived at her side just after the enemy did, and the arrow which should have hit her and killed her was never shot, because he had already killed the Orc who would have fired it. Aeolyn stood on tip-toes and kissed him quickly before she stood poised again and beheaded someone who was trying to kill him. As soon as she saw that they were done she kissed him again, amazed at the win that they had both found. He ran a hand through her hair and took her hand.

"I did not realise that you were here." he told her, looking concerned. She grinned, purposefully batting her long eyelashes slowly as means of a distraction.

"Of course not, because I did not want you to know that I was. You think I am at home, and Father knows I am here but has been kept in the dark about the fighting. He thinks I am with you – Is it not a wonderful and cunning ruse for me to have thought of? Well, Eomer helped, but it was predominantly my idea." She appeared gleeful as she spoke, proud of herself.

"And if you had died? What then, neither of us would have known you were even gone." he shouted at her, and she looked angered.

"Well, perhaps if you both would hold less of a grip on me and allow me to fight and do as I wished then I would not have to skirt around you and pretend and lie in order to deceive you." Her voice was strong, but she felt awful. She would not wish for him to be upset with her, or worried.

"You are far too important to the both of us, you must see that. Now come with me, there is a victory party to attend." She grinned and ran along by his side.

Boromir, the son of the Steward of Gondor, was seemingly loved by his people, who were unsurprised by the victory that they had in claiming back their beloved city, and Aeolyn thought herself incredibly lucky to have him, but not, however, as lucky as Boromir thought himself to have her.

He made an announcement which was brief but that she did not listen to because she was too busy fantasizing about her forthcoming wedding, and she twirled the silver ring with the green stones that he had given her around her finger. He pulled her up next to him as they all cheered, and she smiled awkwardly assuming she had been mentioned in his ramblings. When they went down she noticed how the men patted him on the back assuredly, happy to have such a good captain to lead them in their numerous, victorious battles. Aeolyn smiled at his brother, the so often over looked Faramir who she had at one time been close with, but was now sadly not. She often wondered if perhaps he felt betrayed that she had chosen his brother over him, like so many others.

The two brothers spoke for a while, and she spoke to Órelind for a few moments. When she turned back Boromir was off to one side with his Father. She could not hear what they were saying but she could hear the raised voices and worried a little about Boromir.

He strode over to Aeolyn and looked annoyed. She smiled weakly, and looked from the older man to the younger one, and the smile faded. She saw Faramir watching her from the side of Órelind who had been desperately attempting to get his attention for so long to no avail. Aeolyn took the hand of her future husband and tried to avoid meeting the eyes of Denethor, his father, who scared her for a reason she did not fully understand.

"Aeolyn, it is a glorious day for the city, and for your husband." Since their betrothal, which Denethor was very much in favour of, he had referred to them as husband and wife and to her as his daughter, which just made her more nervous around him. "However, he must go away for a time as he has been called upon for the council of Elrond. However, and this is entirely up to you my child, you have also been invited. Your father sent word, which I dismissed as nonsense not knowing you were here, but seeing you now of course I realise you arrival must have become lost in the war effort and that I can pass on the news to you."

Boromir leant in to her and whispered: "You do not have to come. It will only be for a short time; I will return soon." She frowned at him and sighed.

"I will not sit at home and wait for you to finish whatever business Lord Elrond would have you attend to in Rivendell. I will go with you to where I was invited, and I will help decided whatever I have been summoned to discuss. What is that, if I may enquire, Lord Denethor?"

"The existence of the One Ring is rumoured, and you must help my son in bringing it to Gondor. We could use it against the enemy and I wish to have it in my possession. I do not doubt that you will help my son in achieving this goal." Aeolyn nodded, but was secretly feeling a little worried. She had heard of the ring, of course, and knew of its great power and incomparable evil. She dreaded to think of the powerful object in the hands of her future husband's father. He was too erratic and unpredictable, and there was an underlying hint of something malicious beneath his exterior. She was already plotting how best to keep it from falling into his hands.

Boromir brought her horse along, a jet black steed named Starflare. He seemed content enough with her going along with him, not that she would ever refer to herself as a passenger on the journey that they would take. She had just as much right to go as he did.

He said goodbye to his brother, her to Órelind, and then they departed the city.

The journey would take a few days at the most, including time for them to stop and rest occasionally which she knew was for her benefit and resented it. She had at first tried to refuse sleep, but the third time they had stopped the exhaustion had overcome her and she had slept while he had embraced her to keep her warm. Aeolyn did not know what would await her at Rivendell but was actually looking forward to finding out, even if she and Boromir had different aims and were both stubborn enough that neither would give in to the other easily. When on their fourth day of journeying they arrived at the majestic home of the elves, they left their horses and walked together over the bridge, both ready to face the council the next day, with very clear instructions to themselves of what they needed to do.


	2. One

Yes, I realise this uses a lot of dialogue from the movie, for the main reason that I did not think Aeolyn's presence at Rivendell would impact much upon what was said, and I wanted her to react to some of the dialogue anyway. This will probably be the only chapter done like this so much, however there will be others with some quotes, but obviously as she will be one of only a few characters rather than a whole Council of them it will be less prominent. Thank you all for reading, please review and tell me what I can do better!

ONE

Aeolyn woke up earlier than usual, and from the balcony outside of her room she watched the sun come up over the land of the elves. Rivendell was the most beautiful place she thought she would ever see. She loved her homeland and Gondor, but Rivendell far surpassed all of the other places she had been in her life, and for what was probably a good few hours she just stood and watched what was below her with a sense of amazement and joy. She saw a few people riding into the place, and assumed they were there for the same purpose that she was. A man below her looked up and smiled, and she smiled back at him, appreciating that he was a very handsome man, with dark hair and light eyes.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked around calmly to see Boromir behind her, also looking down on the awe inspiring land below them. The man with the dark hair had gone.

"The Council will meet in a few minutes. You might want to dress, my love, it is almost midday, and they will not wait for you." Her eyes widened as she realised how late it had gotten, and she ushered him out of the room after a quick kiss.

She chose a deep green dress, in honour of her homelands where all the lands were lush and colourful and brushed her hair as quickly as she could, and without looking in the mirror she ran out of the room and down to where she had been show the night before by a helpful Elf and would be the meeting space for the Council. Boromir was waiting for her by the entrance and he took her arm and led her in. She was surprised to see that there were a few empty seats, but they were quickly filled. A little man, close to the size of a child, sat on the edge of the circle of seats looking decidedly more nervous than anyone else.

Once all the seats were filled the Council was opened by a black haired Elf (or so she assumed from the ears) with tired eyes. He was looking at her coldly, and under the harsh gaze Aeolyn picked nervously and frantically at the embroidery, done in pretty silver, that formed delicate patterns around the bodice of her dress. She did this until she felt a hand clasping over hers and looked up to see Boromir smiling at her. She looked up gratefully despite the fact he was being clearly patronising, and as he kept one hand over hers he lifted the other and wrapped it around her shoulders protectively in a gesture which told the others there that they had come together. Her eyes were heavy, and one the droning voice of Elrond, the dark haired Elf, began, she felt her eyes closing and thought she might sleep. She blinked and forced herself to stay awake, rubbing her eyes, annoyed with herself for having gotten up so early.

"Bring forth the Ring, Frodo." Elrond said, and suddenly she sat up as the small man got up and took a seemingly simple looking Ring to a stone table.

The atmosphere completely changed in that instant. Everyone seemed more interested, and there was a clear hint of fear present in the air. She felt Boromir freeze and hold his breath, and knew he was planning how best to demand that the Ring go to him. Looking around the plethora of creatures from the corners of Middle Earth, she saw that she was the only female.

"So it is true…" he whispered, loud enough for those closer to hear. She felt a little embarrassed by the reaction and knew her cheeks were flushed. The Elf was watching them closer than he was watching the others, possibly fearing as she did that her future husband would make for the Ring.

The little man sat down and breathed a clear sigh of relief as everyone else's eyes fixated themselves upon the simplistic band of gold which sat before them.

She knew what he was about to do before he did it, and she begged silently for him not to do so, but she watched from his side as Boromir got up from his seat and looked around, about to begin petitioning the Council to do what his father had sent him here to do – Get the most powerful object on the Earth for a deluded man to wield. She had to stop herself from putting her head in her hands, and she looked down, admittedly ashamed already of his actions.

"In the dream I saw the Eastern sky go dark…" he began, but she stopped listening when she looked up to see the Elf's eyes on her, not on him. She shook her head a little, and he nodded, and she felt a little better knowing what it meant. The Ring would not be going to Gondor.

She and the Elf both saw at the same time what he was doing, and they yelled his name simultaneously as he reached out to touch the Ring. Her heart pounded against her ribcage as she saw an old man with a staff, who was sat by the small man who come to think of it was probably a Hobbit, get up and begin chanting powerful words in a language she did not understand, but somehow knew what he was saying. 'One Ring to rule them all, one Ring to find them. One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them'. She knew then that it was the form of elvish that they spoke in Mordor, and she wondered if she was the only one confused about how he had learnt such an evil language. The Elf put his head in one hand, and Boromir backed back to where she was sitting. On impulse, she reached out and took his hand.

Boromir sat down looking scared, and she leant her head on his shoulder reassuringly. Elrond said something similar to what she was thinking and scolded the elderly man for the tongue he had spoken in, one that had never before been heard in Rivendell if he was to be believed.

The old man said that he was not sorry and that he thought the language might yet be heard, indicating he thought evil was coming to them all very soon. The Elf had sat back down, clearly hoping to get back to the matter at hand, although Aeolyn saw that not everyone had the same goal in mind.

"The Ring is altogether evil." the Wizard said, making his way back to his seat, and again she felt it before it happened. She knew he would speak, she knew he would try and explain why Gondor needed the Ring so much more than anyone else. Aeolyn just looked disappointed; she did not want the Ring to go to anyone. She wanted that evil destroyed, or at least hidden for an eternity where no evil could use it against anyone.

"It is a gift." Boromir said, getting up again. "A gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not use this Ring?" Aeolyn knew what he would ask for, and on whose behalf. It became almost a game for her; to predict what he would say. "Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people, are your lands kept safe?" She braced herself for the impact of his next words. She almost smiled, knowing full well what they must think of her. "Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him." There was no pause before someone else spoke, and Aeolyn looked up from the ground where she had let her eyes rest so as not to see the horrified looks the Council was throwing at her.

"You cannot wield it. None of us can." She noticed that it was the man she had spotted from her balcony that morning, and was fairly pleased that someone had said what she had been thinking. He had walked around to a group of blonde elves, but Boromir turned to face the other man. "The Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master.

"And what would a Ranger know of this matter?" Boromir asked, being his usual deliberately confrontational self. She felt as though she might have said something, but was thankful when one of the blonde elves stood up.

"This is no mere Ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance." She smiled a little; oddly glad to know the man's name, but the man she now knew to be Aragorn looked concerned over at Boromir, wondering what his reaction would be to the statement. Aeolyn wondered what it meant – It seemed to be little more than an introduction to her, but it clearly had some bearing on Boromir who looked shocked and turned to face the man.

"Aragorn." he stated, clearly unsure of what else to do. "This is Isildur's heir?" His voice shook in a way she had never heard it before.

She suddenly knew of course, what this meant to him. If it was true, if this man was the heir of Isildur, then he was the true King of Gondor. She looked at Aragorn searchingly for anything remotely kingly about him, but saw nothing. The blonde Elf seemed to hear her thoughts and speak them, telling Boromir what he already knew; this man was heir to the throne he had assumed he would sit on, not King but Steward, like his father.

Aragorn spoke calmly in elvish, which Aeolyn spoke fluently. She was almost amused to hear that all he was saying was for the Elf to sit down.

"Gondor has no King." Boromir said before making his way back to her side, and she despaired a little of him, never one to let anything go; he would always attempt to get the last word in an argument. He reached for her hand but she pulled it away in infuriation. "Gondor needs no King." He glared from his seat at the man.

"Just stop!" Aeolyn shouted, surprised by her own voice. "That is not important here or now, what matters is the Ring and what is to be done with it." The grey haired Wizard who sat almost opposite her smiled and nodded, as did Elrond, both clearly pleased that she would for now at least keep Boromir in line. He whispered an apology to her, obviously upset to have caused a scene and embarrassed her in front of such important people.

"Aragorn is right. We cannot use it." said the elderly Wizard, and she nodded at Boromir, more to aggravate him than anything else.

"You have only one choice. The Ring must be destroyed." She couldn't help but smile although Boromir sighed behind her, devastated to have lost the hold of the Council that he had hoped to gain. The Hobbit who had placed the Ring on the stone stared at it, as though it held some kind of possession over his mind.

"Well what are we waiting for?" asked a red headed Dwarf with a strong accent. He pulled out his axe and struck it upon the Ring. The Hobbit flinched as the axe touched the gold.

The axe shattered but the Ring remained, and they all grew silent.

"The Ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Glóin by any craft that we here possess. The Ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came!" The Hobbit was holding his head, and she had an urge to do and put an arm around him to reassure him the he would be alright. Everyone else, she noticed, was captured by the ring, giving it their full attention, but listening carefully. "One of you must do this."

Her first instinct was to offer, but, as always, Boromir began speaking first, infuriating not just her, she was sure.

"One does not simply walk into Mordor." he began with his head in a hand, exasperated, clearly. He went on; she was sure, to attempt to impress the Council with his extensive knowledge of Mordor, having captured the attention of the Council once again. His words seemed to be making the Hobbit more scared, and she tried to catch the eye of the Wizard and make him soothe him, but he did not look away from Boromir. She was close to going over, whatever she might interrupt, when she heard the fighting begin, and noticed that Boromir had finished speaking.

"And I suppose you think you are the one to do it!" she heard coming from the Dwarf who had tried to destroy the ring with his axe. He was aiming the comment at the standing blonde Elf.

Always looking on the bright side, Boromir cut in again. "And if we fail, what happens then? What happens when Sauron takes back what is his?"

"I will be dead," the Dwarf announced, seemingly simply eager to argue with the Elf. "Before I see the ring in the hands of an Elf!" Suddenly, everyone stood up and began to argue, and she felt herself stand but not speak. There was no-one really, she realised, for her to be shouting at. "Never trust an Elf!" the Dwarf exclaimed to the agreement of the fellow members of his company. The grey haired Wizard simply shook his head, and the Hobbit next to him looked worried, and Aeolyn could see him stare at the Ring. Sadly though, she could not anticipate his actions as she could Boromir's, and she had to just watch as he stared. The Wizard yelled something about Sauron but it was met by no pause in the conflict. He confronted Boromir especially, and she just stood watching. The two were heatedly arguing, probably about the Ring going to Gondor again.

He stood up and shouted something she could not hear. She walked a little closer, and indicated for him to repeat himself slightly louder.

"I will take it." the Hobbit declared. She saw the Wizard looking sadly into the distance, and wished that she had done nothing. Perhaps he would have just sat back down had she not asked for him to repeat what he had said. Everyone grew very quiet, and she was close enough now to give him a look of compassion which he could read. "I will take the Ring to Mordor." For a moment, everyone forgot their disputes and just looked with some pity and some admiration upon the one being among them who was brave enough to volunteer himself. "Though… I do not know the way."

Aeolyn honestly thought she might weep, if she were in private of course and if the matter were not so serious. It was so incredibly touching that he would do this for all of them.

"I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins." the kindly old Wizard said, walking over and patting him on the shoulder. She smiled at them both, wondering what would happen after all that.

The Ranger, Aragorn, stood up and swore to protect him too, and she realised that people, other people, would be going with him. She touched the sword attached to her dress by a silver belt, and wondered silently how much use she would be, or if she would just be a weight for them to bear if she offered herself up to go on what seemed like a rather suicidal mission. The Elf and Dwarf who had been fighting before both offered their weapons, a bow and an axe respectively, by which time she had decided what to do.

"I am a good fighter." she said. Boromir looked shocked at what she was doing, but she took his hand for a second and let go. "And I think you are going to need one." The Wizard chuckled under his breath, and the Ranger nodded, smiling.

The all stood together in a cluster, and she saw Boromir wavering. She caught his eye, trying to tell him in a look to do what he thought right.

"You carry the fates of us all, little one. If this is indeed the will of the Council the Gondor will see it done." He moved closer to them all, and she reached out to take his hand, proud of him. "I would not see you die alone, my love." His last words were a sweet but morbid whisper into her hair, intended for only her to hear. She leant up and kissed his cheek, decidedly smaller than he was.

"Thank you." she told him, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Mister Frodo's not going anywhere without me!" exclaimed another Hobbit who ran in from the bushes where he had clearly been spying on the meeting. She grinned at him as he pushed his way towards Frodo and stood with his arms crossed in a way which said that no-one could deter him or make him change his mind.

"It is hardly possible to separate you even when he is summoned to a _secret_ Council and you are not." Elrond said good-naturedly with a slight smile.

She then spotted two other Hobbits hiding behind pillars, also spying, who looked decidedly shocked and displeased with the fact that the larger Hobbit was going too, and they were going to have to go home. The two of them exchanged a look and ran into the Council, which seemed to irritate Elrond to no end. They shouted that they would also be making the journey, and Aeolyn could not stop herself from laughing slightly hysterically.

"You need people of intelligence on this sort of mission. Quest. Thing." said one of them, and she giggled and smiled at Boromir, who was also finding it amusing.

"Well that rules you out, Pip." the other said to him.

"Ten companions." he said, and Aeolyn felt odd, as though perhaps that was one too many, and for some reason there should be only nine. The uneasiness settled on her shoulders like a weight which she could not shrug off. She stood between the blonde Elf, Legolas, and Boromir. "You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring." Elrond announced, pleased with himself.

"Great!" cried the Hobbit who had proclaimed himself intelligent. "Where are we going?"


	3. Two

Thank you all for continuing to read - This chapter again does have some movie dialogue, but it's a whole lot more integrated with my own work. Again, I would love to hear what you have to say about this, good or bad, so please review it! Thank you!

TWO

"It was a gift… Keep it." Aeolyn backed up as she heard the whispery voice of a tall, elegant Elf woman where she was about to walk. She froze until the woman walked past, and she marched along as it was the only way to get back to her room. She had left one of her daggers up there, and she felt as though she might need it at some point on the journey.

Aragorn stood about to go to the group who were close, and she supposed that he might have been making his way to them when the woman had spoken to him. He looked a little crestfallen, and she smiled sadly at him.

"Are you quite alright?" Aeolyn asked him, concerned.

"Of course I am. Now hurry, please, we must get going." She frowned at him, and perhaps would have told him to stop being so controlling over everyone or they would not be getting along on their journey, but instead she just shrugged and began to wander away. "Aeolyn?" he said, and she turned around, blonde hair flying. "Are you sure you want to come with us for this?" She paused for a moment, and she smiled with a confidence she had not yet exhibited in front of the group.

"Of course I do! You think I would miss the chance to do this, to save our lands just because I am a woman?" It was not a question she intended for him to answer with anything but a smile, which he did, shaking his head too. "Please, tell them to wait for me, I will only be a moment."

She thought as she walked to her room that Aragorn seemed quite friendly, and she wondered sadly if he might be the only one of the group she befriended. The Hobbits all seemed sweet enough, but they were also immature and she felt like she would probably treat them as though they were children which would be a little patronising of her. The Elf, Legolas, seemed nice but a little aloof and distant, and the Dwarf, Gimli, while humorous came off as rather violent and difficult. The Wizard, Gandalf, seemed like he might get along with anyone, but people so close to magic scared her. They had the potential to do such a great evil if it was done with anything less than the purest of hearts.

Aeolyn grabbed her dagger from under the pillow of the bed she had slept in. She always kept one there in case of a surprise attack, and because she was terrified of her father's advisor – Grima Wormtongue – and it had now become a force of habit for her to rest that way. He was not interested in her, more her cousin Eowyn, but she often wondered if he thought about killing her and her brother, Théodred to bring him closer to taking the throne from her father. She assumed that was what he wanted at least – She could see no other reason for his being there.

When she finally got to the gate that they were to exit out of – after a trip back which had involved her getting lost no less than four times – Boromir shook his head at her and she grinned, sliding the dagger into her belt, and as they listened to Elrod bid them farewell and tell them that their bond to Frodo was one of incredible importance she looked around at the many faces of the people who were saying goodbye to them, possibly forever.

She had changed, as, according to the Legolas, the journey would not be one suitable for a dress, so she wore a red tunic over brown trousers with a silver belt to hold her weapons, one sword, two daggers and a sheath of arrows. The bow was slung over her shoulder, and although she could not use it well it was her last resort.

Many had come to see them off and she walked by the side of Boromir once they formed a line, but not touching him. She saw the black haired Elf woman who had been speaking with Aragorn before watching them as they left. Aragorn was also the last to leave, she saw.

She heard the young Hobbit asking for directions and they all followed him out onto the road ahead, unprepared for the long journey mentally. Aeolyn quickly changed places in the line when she decided the Boromir walked too slowly for her, and she strode happily to the front where she decided quickly that she liked two of the Hobbits, Merry and Pippin, and made friends with them, listening to Aragorn chuckle behind them at the comments the three of them were making.

"What's your home like?" asked Pippin after they finished telling her about the Green Dragon, their favourite place. It took Aeolyn a moment to realise it was an Inn, but this hardly mattered as the need to speak was gone once they began singing the Green Dragon song. She turned back to Aragorn who had offered kindly to lead her horse, Starflare, who she had of course insisted upon bringing with her and smiled, her eyes twinkling when she realised that he was listening too. She immediately wanted to embellish the place, but, as she began to describe her home in Rohan, she realised that no embellishment would be needed. I was a completely wonderful place, and she missed it very much already. She had not been there for several days now.

"Oh it is beautiful, Edoras…" she began wistfully. "Lands so green and lush you would think it was spring all year around, and horses everywhere. Whenever we win a fight all of the soldiers and their families, which is most of Edoras, come and join us in our great hall. I am a Princess there, you see, so I eat and drink with them, a lot like you with your Green Dragon. I used to spend my time as a child running as far as I could into the green fields and sitting there reading books in Elvish. I taught it to myself, you know." Merry and Pippin were clearly impressed, and had been since she mentioned she was a Princess there, which she never really called herself, but he supposed she was.

"I did not know Théoden had a daughter…" Aragorn said. "I thought it was just his son." She sighed, and brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face.

"Many do not. I tend not to make myself noticed as much as my older brother does, but then, as he will inherit the throne and I will not, I do not need to as much. It works to my advantage really; Théoden takes so little notice of me that I did not even need to ask his permission to marry. He just wants me out of his way, I think. He does not like to be reminded of my mother." Aeolyn told him, with no hint of sadness to her voice.

"Théodred's mother died in childbirth, am I correct?" Aeolyn nodded at Aragorn. "And, if he is older, then she is not your mother."

"No, she is not. My mother was an Elf, which is why I was so apt when it came to learning the language. She died in childbirth too, although they were never married. He would have left me with her if she had not died, but she did and he refused to leave me alone, although I can tell he resents me a little for ruining his perfect life with his son."

"It works to my advantage too, that he wants you away." Aeolyn smiled as Boromir caught up with them, and she took his hand affectionately. With his thumb he traced the silver band around her finger. "I get to see so much more of you than I might."

"You pity me." Aeolyn said, with a look to Aragorn, more of confusion than anything else, and certainly containing no anger. "Why?"

Aragorn did not answer, but continued to walk a little faster. She sighed, and turned to Boromir.

"That man infuriates me almost as much as you do." He smiled, and looked thoughtful. "What? Please do not tell me that you did not realise how vexatious you can be sometimes."

"Of course not, I know exactly how much I annoy you. No, I was just thinking that it is a good thing he does not frustrate you as much as I do. I might have some competition for you hand then." She laughed, and asked him if he thought the only reason she was marrying him was so she had someone to fight with. "I believe it is one of the things you hold dearest about me." She rolled her eyes but reached up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"It is, but do not worry; I do not think anyone will ever be as bothersome as you are."

"Of course they will not. It takes a great deal of time, effort and skill to be as irritating as I am." She giggled as he leant down to kiss her properly. He stood an inch or so under six feet, and she stood a little over five feet, and she fit snugly under his chin, luckily taller than the Dwarf, but certainly the smallest in the group of the taller people. It constantly annoyed her that her mother was an Elf yet she was incredibly small. It simply was not fair that she had been robbed of all the grace, poise and height she might have had.

The two of them walked together for a while again, silent mostly except to comment on something interesting one of them might see. She listened mostly to the discussions among the Hobbits, not so much Frodo, who was quiet, but Merry, Pippin, and Sam who seemed content just to be in each other's company.

Aeolyn was rather surprised when night fell then; she felt as though if she were given the chance she could walk a lot further. She offered to stay awake and take a watch for danger, and Aragorn offered to stay up with her. She appreciated the company.

"When is your wedding then?" he asked her as she handed him back his whet stone which she had been using to sharpen her blade. She paused for a moment.

"I am not sure, as of yet. I hope it will be soon, but of course, we must finish this task at first, and my wedding is as such not at the forefront of my mind." She saw him looking sceptical. "Oh no!" she said hurriedly. "I mean, of course I want to marry, please do not take that as my saying I do not, it is just that I think saving these lands must come before any one thing that any of us here has. I would never forgive myself if we failed because all I could think about was a wedding! Having said that though, all I can think about now is my stomach." Aragorn laughed, and tossed her an apple. She was grateful, but she looked at him with a frown. "I know I am small, but I am no Hobbit!" He had been tossing them food all day, she had noticed, and seemed to appreciate the joke.

"Fine, give it back here then." he told her, and she shook her head and bit into it.

"It is too late. It is mine now!" she taunted, taking another bite. He shook his head and took one out for himself.

They sat eating in silence, and once they had both finished and tossed the cores off of the cliff they were on they sat in silence. She got up and wandered to the edge. Aeolyn had not realised how far they had climbed until she looked down over the edge and saw the passage they had passed earlier a long way below them. She went back to the spot where she had been sitting and yawned at the same time Aragorn did as the two of them were finally tired. He walked over and awoke Legolas and Gimli who had kindly offered to take the next shift, and she settled down on the hard ground, covering herself with a black cloak that she had thought would be handy on the colder night, much like that night was. She used her hands as a pillow, and though she was rather uncomfortable, Aeolyn was asleep in minutes.

It continued like this for almost two weeks before they reached any sort of important point. Aeolyn found herself getting rather bored, if truth be told, with the walking to action ratio being incredibly high to nothing.

One day they had stopped for a rest atop another mountain or hill or whatever godforsaken piece of nature they had been forced to climb that day. She was beginning to feel tired, and walking was taking a toll on her. She was trying to get some of the dirt off her face with some water that she had found in a river and collected into a bowl, an old cloth and one of her daggers for a mirror. She watched, amused, as Boromir taught Merry and Pippin to fight, and winced a little each time one of them grew close to the edge. Giving up with the water, she took out her own long blade and joined in, which made her future husband smile.

"You take Pippin!" he called to her, and she nodded, sparring playfully with the Hobbit who was actually good for someone who she doubted had much practice in fighting.

"Move your feet!" Aragorn reminded Merry as Boromir edged closer to him, careful never to strike him with the blade by accident. Merry and Pippin often were distracted by each other, constantly complementing themselves on a particularly good move. She could hear the Dwarf in the background complaining to the Wizard about taking 'the long way round' and suggesting another route, but she did not let his droning put her off her fight. Legolas was being his usual over-dramatic self (or this was the conclusion that Aeolyn had drawn of him at least, having said that she liked the Elf a great deal and his constant flare amused her). Boromir told them to move faster, and she smiled to herself and continued to fight.

The other two Hobbits were watching from a rock, Frodo looking amused and often cheering on Merry and Pippin to which he was met by one of Aeolyn's infamous glares which was done in good humour, of course.

Pippin and Aeolyn had joined the other two and they were now fighting as a group when Boromir accidentally scratched Pippin's hand with his sword.

"Sorry!" he apologised quickly. The two looked to each other.

"Get him!" one of them yelled, and suddenly they were both kicking at him and wrestling him to the ground. "For the Shire!" they then shouted, and Aeolyn stood there laughing and shaking her head, but was soon distracted by the same thing which had captured the attention of both Legolas and Gandalf. She shook her head and looked back.

"Gentlemen, that's enough!" Aragorn said to them, trying to pull them off Boromir. They pulled at him, and he flipped backwards, which Aeolyn met with a booming laugh.

"Oh let them have their fun, they are doing no harm!" she said to Aragorn with a laugh, who just looked at her coldly as he did whenever she challenged his authority. "You are really going to try to glare at me? Please, Aragorn, I am simply the best at glaring in all the land. Right, Boromir?" she said, urging him to respond. He sat up and shrugged.

"Just accept her authority as the law and you two will get on much better." Boromir suggested, and she nodded. Aragorn was always nice to her when she was on her own, but as soon as the rest of the group was around he seemed to dislike her immensely.

"What is that?" Sam asked suddenly, looking at the same thing which had grabbed Aeolyn's attention earlier.

"I do not know." she replied before anyone else could. "But it does not look like a cloud to me. Perhaps we should take some kind of cover until it passes." Her suggestion was met by the hurried nods of the Hobbits, but the others continued to watch, awestruck by the black patch of whatever it was that was moving towards them.

"It is moving fast, against the wind." Boromir said slowly, and he reached out for Aeolyn's hand, which she did not give him.

"Crebain from Dunland!" Legolas called, and everyone seemed panicked. Aeolyn admittedly did not really understand what this was, but the urgency with which the Elf spoke let her know that it was not at all a good thing.

"Everyone, hide!" she called out loudly, and they all quickly began seeing to it that any trace of them having been there was eradicated. Much to her annoyance, Aragorn kept telling people to 'Take cover', as though her instruction was not good enough for them all. She now took Boromir's hand and ran with him to hide underneath one of the bushes that, along with the rocks, made for excellent hiding spots, luckily enough for them all. The fire was put out, and before long everyone was concealed. She sat very close to Boromir who put his arms around her reassuringly, and she closed her eyes, waiting and hoping for it all to be over soon.

She saw that the threat was a flock of bat-like birds when they got close, and knew what they were – bird which could be used for spying. She had seen them before but never known the name.

Once the immediate danger had passed, they all got up and Gandalf told them how they were 'spies of Saruman' and how the route they had planned to take was now not an option as it was being watched closely. Looking up at the mountains, the old Wizard very much regretfully told them that they must take the pass of Cadardhras.

"It's a suicide mission." Aeolyn said, so much under her breath she was sure it could pass for her just breathing. She had heard of the pass before, and of its treachery and danger to any and all that chose to take that path. Boromir, who had obviously heard as he always did, put an arm around her and whispered that he would keep her safe. "I do not doubt that, I just wonder exactly how safe you can keep me when you have fallen off a tiny mountain passage too."


	4. Three

Thank you all for having read so far - I really hope you are enjoying the book so far. If you think I could improve anything, please let me know though! I'd love it if a few of you could review just to give me some pointers on this!

THREE

Aeolyn was even less happy than she usually was. She could barely tell the days from the nights, and time seemed to be a large and inescapable blur. She was tired all the time, and it was not just the trudging through the endless snow which was exhausting her but the company and the impossibility of the task they were now faced with. Before she had been glad to help; now all she could think was how stupid she had been to say that she would help the group in their venture. All conversations that they might have had were finished now, and she found herself repeating everything she had said. Whenever they stopped was her only good time; she had begun to teach herself to use a bow and arrow, using apple cores as target practice.

Really, most of her time was spent cataloguing all of the different ways she might die on the mountain passage. Starvation was her current guess for how – The food supplies were dangerously low, not that they had brought much in the anticipation of taking a route where food might be easier to find than to carry the whole way.

A top the mountains very little happened.

On one of the first days, Frodo had topped over and dropped the Ring, which Aeolyn had immediately dismissed as careless until she felt the hand holding hers let go and she watched in a mortified silence as Boromir had picked up the Ring, closely watched by everyone else, who she felt was judging her on her poor taste in men. He was staring at it like a man possessed, and she stayed a safe distance away in the anticipation that he might do something rash. Aragorn had tried to capture his attention to no avail. She looked helplessly at him.

"It is a strange fate that we should have to suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing." he said quietly, still staring at it. "Such a little thing…" he mused.

"Boromir!" she yelled, snatching the gold out of his hand, breaking the trance he was under and hitting at his arm, wanting to hurt him more but feeling it unwise. "What on Earth is wrong with you? Why did you not just give the Ring back to Frodo, as clearly you cannot handle such a power! Idiot…" she muttered the last word to herself. Aeolyn marched away hastily and put the Ring back around Frodo's neck. "Be careful with it next time. You might just lose it for good." She pulled him close to her for a moment, a reassuring gesture to show him that all would be alright

The last part worked as well as an insult as Aeolyn had hoped it would, and as a matter of principle she had refused to walk with Boromir for the rest of the day.

She knew that he was a good man at heart, but also that evil was easier to avoid when you understood very little about it, as Frodo did. Boromir had seen too much of war to still have that innocence about him. Aeolyn herself felt too protective of Frodo to let the Ring get to her senses.

She noticed Aragorn take his hand away from the sword at his side, which he had been holding on to just in case Boromir had tried anything, but she stomped over regardless of why.

"You let me deal with my soon-to-be husband, and keep your weapon out of it. No matter what he does, if you so much as touch him I will kill you. Do you understand?" she asked him. He nodded quickly and she stomped off somewhere else, cross with everyone at that moment.

They ran into storms not long after what Aeolyn would soon come to call 'the incident'. The snow constantly made them all topple over, and only Gandalf with his staff seemed to be able to walk any sort of distance without doing so. The path was becoming more and more narrow, and she was incredibly apprehensive about getting too close to the edge of it. Boromir, who she had forgiven because barely anyone was speaking to him now, and she felt bad for making him lonelier, walked by her side. She had not spoken to him but kept up and interlaced her hand with his, and when he had looked down she had simply smiled and brought his hand up to her lips to kiss it, showing that all was forgiven. When she fell he would quickly pull her up so she did not get cold in the deep now, and she did the same for him, although he fell less often.

"There is a fell voice on the air…" Legolas remarked, having to shout over the sounds of the storm. She and Boromir had managed to climb to where he was, and she stood clutching him close to her for warmth, shivering in the bitter cold of the air. She felt nervous, but Boromir would keep her safe, she was sure.

"It's Saruman!" Gandalf cried, and Aeolyn buried her head into Boromir's shoulder, trying to shut it all out. A crash of rocks fell behind her, and Boromir stroked her hair and kept her close to him. She was shaking.

"Gandalf, this is not safe! We cannot go on like this, he is trying to bring down the mountain; we are as good as dead if we stay here!" Aeolyn screamed once she had composed herself. "We have to find another route!" She could feel tears escape from her eyes and freeze almost as soon as they met the air. Her hair was frozen in chunks, and her clothes were covered in snow and ice. She wanted to collapse but felt it was a duty of sorts for her not to do so.

Gandalf shouted something monosyllabic which she could not here but took to be a no, as he stood there trying to counter the spell with his own magic.

What looked to be another fall of rock came down. But, as she looked up she saw that Gandalf had failed to do what he intended, as a wave of ice and snow came flooding down from the top of the mountain. She screamed and clutched at the rock and Boromir, keeping him safe with her and trying not to be swept down with the avalanche as it plummeted down onto them. After a while she stopped screaming and just closed her eyes, accepting that freezing to death would after all be the way that she went.

She felt movement next to her as Boromir scrabbled to dig them a way out, and once he did he pulled her up forcefully so that she did not stay there. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him, just happy that he was alive. She was careful not to move as she could not see the edge of the surface they stood anymore.

"We must get off the mountain! Aeolyn is right – This is suicide!" Boromir shouted, holding her close as though he were so glad she was alive that he could never bear to part with her. "Make for the Gap of Rohan and take the road to my city!"

Aeolyn made a mental note to shout at him later for bringing up his city again, when they were in slightly less mortal danger. She was fed up of his constantly trying to get the ring to his father, and Aeolyn felt almost as though being there would be even less safe than staying here would be for the Fellowship.

Luckily, Aragorn was at hand to make an excuse, saying that the Gap of Rohan took them too close to Isengard, and, being from Rohan, Aeolyn nodded and agreed.

"Let us go under the mountain then!" Gimli suggested, and Aeolyn might have, on any other occasion, found it funny that his beard was entirely white from having essentially frozen over in a way which must have been painful for the Dwarf. "Let us go through the mines of Moria."

Gandalf paused and looked worried but defeated, knowing that there was now no other choice for them. He said nothing for a long while, enough time for Aeolyn to wonder how they would get down from the godforsaken mountain to the mines below it. Boromir kissed her cheek soothingly, sensing her displeasure with the entire horrid business. She wished that they had just gone the way they had intended and fought anything which had come against them, but she knew of course that would have been an unwise decision given what they possessed.

"Let the Ring-bearer decide." Gandalf said finally.

"Frodo," Aeolyn tried to say as calmly and quietly as possible. "Whatever you choose is fine; we will follow you, no matter what. Both paths are dangerous, of course, but I am sure you know that." The Hobbit looked a lot happier after she had spoken to him; she had an almost maternal connection with him despite the fact that he was many years old than she was.

With arms around Merry and Pippin, who Aeolyn had noticed Boromir had become almost like a father too, he yelled: "This will be the death of the Hobbits!"

"We will go through the mines." Frodo said quietly, not as decisive as he should have been, and Aeolyn put her arms around him trying to keep him as warm as she could, just as her betrothed was doing with the others. She found Sam and swept him under her cloak too, rubbing both their arms in a hopeless attempt to take some of the ice away from their clothing which she knew was uncomfortable for them to have to wear.

After a little climbing they were finally down on lower ground, and Aeolyn could have wept with relief to be there. Gandalf called Frodo away to him, and she felt almost reluctant to let him go, but she lifted her arm so he could run to the Wizard. She still held Sam with her, and, as Boromir had commented earlier, they looked like a rather odd family with adult looking children.

Gandalf had stopped with Frodo, and she heard him talking about evils from outside and within the Fellowship, and she made sure to give him her best death-stare as she passed him for talking, no doubt, about her Boromir, noting to bring it up with him later.

The Dwarf happily pointed out the walls of Moria, seeming rather awestruck, and even she had to marvel at the sheer height of the structure. He explained something about invisible closed Dwarf doors, which she thought seemed rather unhelpful to her, and as Gandalf said something seemingly complementary about their own masters not being able to find them, Legolas sighed.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" he asked sarcastically, met by a grunt of annoyance from the dwarf and a laugh from her and Boromir who lived to listen to the two of them arguing as it provided much amusement.

The door that they eventually reached was one which only reflected moonlight and the light of the stars, so it was a happy coincidence that the cloud parted as soon as this was mentioned. Aeolyn assumed that Gandalf had something to do with it as the door lit up beautifully. It was enthralling really, how pretty the place was. Behind her was a beautiful, still lake. She felt very much at peace with herself and the world there; a wonderful changes from the chaos of the mountains.

Gandalf read out the Elvish on the door, and she and Legolas exchanged annoyed looks, both of them knowing that they would have been fully capable of translating too. 'Speak friend and enter' were the instructions set forth on the door, and one of the Hobbits asked what that meant.

"It is quite simple. If you are a friend you speak the password and the doors will open." He put his staff on the door, and she and Legolas both looked down trying not to laugh as he failed, miserably, and gave up looking rather more defeated than he had before. She shook her head in exasperation of him.

He tried again, and Pippin summed it up best by simply saying: "Nothing's happening."

He then tried to push against the door and open it to even less avail, and it was just such a funny sight that the Elf and her sniggered lightly, which was met by a glare from Aragorn. She shrugged and smiled happily. Gandalf made the excuse that he had _once_ known all the spells in languages of Elves, Dwarves and Orcs. Aeolyn then pointed out "That doesn't really help us very much now though, does it?" Legolas shook his head in mock sadness, indicating to her that he too had figured out how to open the door. Could it have been more obvious?

Gandalf got angry when Pippin asked what he was going to do, and told Pippin he would knock his head against the doors.

"Well don't take it out on Pippin just because you can't perform a simple spell to open a little door. That is not his fault, is it?"

A few minutes' later people had settled in, and Aeolyn said goodbye to her horse as Sam did to his, and Aeolyn told Starflare to meet her on the other side of the mines, if she could. The gorgeous horse galloped away far faster than Bill, Sam's horse did, and she smiled sadly, and walked up to Legolas who was still watching Gandalf with a smirk.

"When are we going to tell him what it really is?" he asked her.

"When he stops taking us for granted and asks for our help that is when. I mean, he has such clear cut favourites out of all of us." she said, growing more and more impatient with the Wizard who was still stubbornly attempting spells that were just getting him nowhere fast.

"I agree. If you are not Aragorn or Frodo on this quest he barely even cares that you are here." Legolas said to her. She nodded. She looked over to see that Merry and Pippin were bored and now had begun to cast stones into the deep murky lake instead of doing anything of any use towards the effort to open the door.

"Oh it's useless!" Gandalf sighed.

"Can we be of assistance?" Aeolyn offered sweetly and innocently, gesturing towards herself and Legolas, who nodded. Gandalf looked at the two of them, as though for the first time, and shook his head so his grey beard bobbed up and down.

"I hardly think that if I could not open it then the two of you will be able to."

"_Mellon_." The both of them said at the same time with huge grins, and the door slowly opened revealing a long and dark passage into the mines. "Speak 'friend' and enter. It was a riddle, how could you possibly not get that from the door. Not everyone who would come here would be a friend, why would the Dwarves address them as such?" Aeolyn wondered, still grinning. Legolas, what had made it apparent that he knew also just smiled.

They all entered, and Gimli began to talk about the wonders of Moria and what a welcome they would get, aiming it to Legolas.

"This is no mine – It's a tomb." Boromir whispered, and Aeolyn grasped his hand as he said "We should not have come." As though the mines heard him though, the door slammed shut, encasing them in the mines which were now a tomb. Their only choice now was to continue to walk through the mines until they came out the other side or were killed in the process of trying to do so. The place was huge, and Aeolyn wondered wearily how long exactly it would take them to drag themselves through the place.

Everywhere they looked there were remnants of the Mithril and the mining equipment they had used to get at it. There were skeletons littered around everywhere, and she was rather nervous of stopping anywhere, but of course, they had to rest.

Gandalf and Frodo hung over the edge of a cliff whispering about some creature that she heard had been following them, and she wondered why this was not something he could tell the whole group rather than just one, especially when the knowledge could help more people than just Frodo. No-one else seemed to have over heard, or if they had, they did not care.

"I wish the Ring had never come to me." she heard Frodo say, and she clutched Boromir's hand a little tighter to stop herself from crying.

Gandalf then proclaimed to have found the way, and when Pippin asked how he knew he replied that he did not, but that the air smelt less foul and that must be a good sign for them. Aeolyn rolled her big, blue eyes.

"That," she said loudly as they began to walk. "Is the worst reason I have ever heard for going anywhere, ever. The lack of intelligence in this group astounds me sometimes." Gandalf, who might have chosen to be insulted, simply laughed. "I am serious!" she said, annoyed, and then, good humouredly turned to Pippin. "Have you decided whether this is a mission, a quest, or a thing yet, by the way?"


End file.
